Nature

Rock Outcrops in Ojców

The Prądnik Valley in the Ojców National Park is the best place to see what Jurassic limestone outcrops really are. The park was established in 1956 as the sixth in Poland and is also the smallest — it covers just 21.46 km² — with the bat as its emblem. White towers built of hard Upper Jurassic limestones, in places more than 200 m thick, shine above a valley floor that reaches 100 m in depth.

The most famous rocks

The emblem of Ojców and of the whole Kraków-Częstochowa Upland is the Club of Hercules by the Pieskowa Skała castle. In Ojców itself you can see Deotyma's Needle, shaped like a spire, and the mighty Kraków Gate — two pillars narrowing the valley. The main trail also passes the Maiden Rocks, the Crown Rocks with the Dark Cave and the Mitten, and the rocky Okopy hill.

How they formed

Outcrops are fragments of the massif that survived erosion: water with dissolved carbon dioxide leaches the soft bedded limestone, leaving the hard rocky limestone. The karst character of the region is confirmed by caves — the Dark Cave and the Łokietek Grotto are among the most visited in Poland.

Practicalities

The park lies about 16 km from Kraków, across four communes. Visits combine best with the trail along the Prądnik: on the way are the Water Chapel, the ruins of the Ojców castle and the Pieskowa Skała castle.